Writing Exercise: Dragons

I was sent an IM message through Proboards… a spam IM that was sent to everyone who was online, I  get them a lot, but this one was a bit differant. This one asked the question:

“Do you like dragons?”

I like dragons  but they don’t realy rank in my top fave things… they are up there though, just not in the top 5 list…

top 5 list:

• Merakins (deadliest of the Salt Water Sirens – I love the so rarely mentioned, males)
• Phookas (evil shape shifters, with a taste for blood – not to be confused wit, h Pookas like Harvey)
• Sirens other than Merakins (including Merfolk, Greenwitches, Selkies, Gwayiths, etc)
• Chrystonites (blue skined creatures with an icey touch)
• Dryads (tree spirits, often bad tempered)

Guess you can tell, I’m also a HUGE fan of Bryan Froud and the darker side of the Realm of Fay aka The Faerie Realme`

Of course, you know me, I just had to turn this into yet an other writing exercise for you all to try out, and here it comes.

Dragons: Questions to answer before you write dragons into your fantasy novel

Okay, so you know to write character profiles, but what about none-humanoid characters? Do you ever write profiles for them? Profiles are great for helping you remember important data about your story.

#1. Do you use dragons in your stories? Or plan to? Why or Why not?

#2. How well do you really know your dragons? Not sure? Find out by filling out this profile form, Just copy and paste this code into the reply box, than answer each question. Print up your answers, than add the printout to your notes. Volia! Instant Dragon Profile to always have on hand when you are writing a dragon scene.

Fire: Do they breath fire?

Flight: Can they fly?

Knowledge:Do they think like humans?

Age:

Bonding: either with humans or with each other

Violence:

Size: How big do they get? How fast do they grow?

Ecology: What’s the dragon’s natural habitat?

Food: How much do they eat, and of what?

Breeding: How many eggs/young come at a time, and what’s their road to maturity like?

Culture/habits: If your dragons are human-level intelligence, do they have a culture of their own? If they’re less intelligent, what kind of complex behaviors are instinctive/learned?

I like dragons, but I have never written anything with dragons in it, but I have toyed with the idea that in ancient time there were Dragons on Crystonia, before the ice age began, and having someone discover the frozen fossils of them.

Here is what I’ve come up with thus far…

Fire – possibly, the anceint one’s before the Ice Age did, because the Ice Dragons do, well kind of… they breath an “ice fire” instead

Flight – Yes, they have big beautiful sparkly blue wings, to match their opal white scales, I love wings dragons!

Knowledge – no, never thought about that; they are just big lizards, like an alligator or kimodo dragon or dinosaur… I supose they are just as intelegent as a cat or dog and could be trained, but it has never been done… no talking/thinking/human type characteristics at all

Age – unknown… the Ice Age began centuries ago, and it is not known if these are the same dragons now crystalized or if these are desents of the original non-crystalized ones

Bonding – with their young, yes; as adults they seem to be solitary; with the Crystonites, no

Violence – they are rarely seen, which seems to indicate that they are very shy and peaceful; yet they are fierce and tempermental if you aproach their caves

Size: Big, very big, huge, dinosaur T-Rex, type big

Ecology: What’s the dragon’s natural habitat? they live in caves in the high snow capped mountains

Food How much do they eat, and of what? unknown, but they are big, so it must be alot; and as Crystonia is nearly devoid of both vegitation and large wildlife, that would explain why dragons are so rare

Breeding How many eggs/young come at a time, and what’s their road to maturity like?
lay eggs, 2-4 to a clutch; I’d say simalar to the black african eagle

Culture/habits: If your dragons are human-level intelligence, do they have a culture of their own? If they’re less intelligent, what kind of complex behaviors are instinctive/learned?
nope, does not apply, they are just big lizards, like an alligator or kimodo dragon or dinosaur… I supose they are just as intelegent as a cat or dog and could be trained, but it has never been done… no talking/thinking/human type characteristics at all

Also… anyone got any ideas on Ice or Crystal Dragons? I’m thinking that there may be a few dragons high on Mount Demontooth, now crystalized like the rest of the planet by the Crystal Plauge; I well be reading this thread to get ideas, for what the Crystonia dragons may have been like.

How do you write about your dragons?

Happy Dragon hunting!

~~EK

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